JACQUES TATI: A SORTA CENTENNIAL

Paris is turning into Tativille starting tomorrow, April 8, until August 2, with the Cinémathèque française’s appropriately large-scale retrospective of the famously ambitious French filmmaking legend’s work, “Jacques Tati, deux temps, trois movements.” Curated by Stéphane Goudet and Macha Makeïeff, the exposition is in honor of the director’s 102nd birthday (“just in time for an homage divorced from obligatory celebrations, which he was not keen on,” the curators tease), and will feature not only screenings of Tati’s films (including a new print of M. Hulot’s Holiday) but also exhibitions of props, costumes, screenplays, outtakes, and drawings and paintings by his friend and art director Jacques Lagrange. Add to all that guided walking tours of Tati-related architectural landmarks, screenings of a new six-part documentary on Tati called The 6 Lessons of Professor Goudet, and interviews about Tati with contemporary directors (including Michel Gondry, Wes Anderson, David Lynch, Otar Iosseliani, and Olivier Assayas) on view around the exhibit, and you have one seriously tantalizing Tati traffic jam.

On a related note, you can now buy limited-edition reproductions of some of the marvelously modern furniture from Tati’s Mon oncle at Paris’s Centquatre arts space, from April 9 to May 3. That exhibition will also feature a stunning full-size re-creation of the film’s house, Villa Arpel (pictured below).

And since we’re talking Tati, if you haven’t already, check out the official Jacques Tati website, Tativille (a.k.a. City of Tati, for us English speakers!).